Carnival Breeze Review

4.0 / 5.0
1,352 reviews

Great time, great ship, great food!

Review for the Eastern Caribbean Cruise on Carnival Breeze
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Nyx7979
2-5 Cruises • Age 50s

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Sail Date: Jan 2016
Cabin: Balcony

We went on the 8 day cruise out of Miami going to St. Maarten, Antigua, St. Thomas (USVI), and Amber Cove (Dominican Republic). There were long lines to get on the ship, but they went pretty fast. We had rented a car from Thrifty and returned it to the airport location that provides a free shuttle to/from the port. Overall we had a great time. We played bingo and trivia (finally got a ship on a stick), watched karaoke and comedians, stage shows, game shows, and ate some pretty good food.

One minor beef with the karaoke was the families who kept letting their kids get up to sing and monopolize the karaoke. It was all fine letting them get up once or twice (even though they really weren't very good, but that is okay), but 3 times, and then starting in again the next night at the karaoke ruined it for others. There were 2 or 3 families who kept turning it into a kids karaoke show so we stopped going to the karaoke in the Limelight lounge. Perhaps Carnival could have some nights or times for kids/families, and other nights for adults only. Don't get me wrong, I will listen and applaud anyone who has the guts to get up and sing (as I can't sing), but just because you think your child is amazing doesn't mean that they are, and that the rest of the people want to listen to them all night long. Maybe they can do karaoke in the kids clubs. There was always a variety of different live music available in different areas of the ship. We always found something fun to do on board. In fact, we didn't get to do all of the things we would have liked. Guest services were very helpful and even credited back our $5 social media charge when only half of the apps were working.

We had adjoining rooms on deck 9 (9415 and 9419). They were sometimes noisy at night from carts, and in the morning from people walking above as we were below the Lido Marketplace, but we were still able to sleep. Loved having the balcony for the first time, and it's true that once you try the balcony you won't go back to a room without one. There is nothing like getting up in the morning and sitting on your balcony enjoying the breeze and the ocean. The beds were so comfortable! One major thing that was terrible was the smell of sewage many times on the ship and in the hallways. Sometimes it was okay, and other times it was strong (usually days in port).

Cabin Review

Balcony

Cabin 8E

We had adjoining rooms on deck 9 (9415 and 9419) and also had the partition between the 2 rooms opened on the balcony. We were 4 floors above the deck that extends out from the ship and wraps around the ship, and 1 floor below the Lido Marketplace. The rooms were on the Starboard side, closer to AFT. They were handy for getting to the Lido Marketplace for the buffet, to the Tides pool at the rear, and to the Pizza Pirate for a late night snack. The rooms were sometimes noisy at night from carts, and in the morning from people walking above as we were below the Lido Marketplace, but we were still able to sleep. Loved having the balcony for the first time, and it's true that once you try the balcony you won't go back to a room without one. There is nothing like getting up in the morning and sitting on your balcony enjoying the breeze and the ocean. The beds were so comfortable! One major thing that was terrible was the smell of sewage many times on the ship and in the hallways. Sometimes it was okay, and other times it was a bit strong (usually days in port). We also would have preferred being able to make the room a bit cooler.

Port Reviews

St. Maarten

Husband and daughter went horseback riding and had a great time. The staff were very good at matching the right horse to each rider. You could ride the horse in the ocean as most of the horses loved the water. We would definitely this excursion.

Antigua

The shops in the main central area were nice, and the liquor prices were great. Watch out for the shops just off to the sides. One merchant tried to get my husband and son upstairs into a room to show them t-shirts, but it looked sketchy so they left. Two other people in our family were coaxed into a shop, and then once in the exit was blocked and they were told that they couldn't leave until they bought something.

St. Thomas

Just went to the different shops in walking distance which were mostly typical souvenir shops and jewelry. Good alcohol prices. Next time we will probably take a taxi to the downtown shopping area. Heard Senor Frogs had good drinks, but didn't go.

Amber Cove (Puerto Plata)

Only visited the shops which did have a lot of locally made goods. Many shops still vacant. They had bike/rickshaws to take people from the ship to the shops as the dock was somewhat long. I don't know what the cost was. Two members of our family took an excursion which included a tour of a rum factory, a church, and Puerto Plata, and included lunch for $45 USD per person. They said it was really interesting and the tour guide was really funny. They said it was a real culture shock to see how most lived there.

Miami

Didn't do any excursions here. Flew into Orlando for a couple of days and then rented a car from Thrifty. Returned it to the airport location which had a free shuttle to/from the port of Miami which was a pretty quick drive.

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